As a teacher of British and American literature in a private 1:1 laptop school, my own education never ends. Here I record my experiences learning and teaching with web 2.0 applications in my classroom.

Wednesday, March 18, 2009

The Changing Face of Literature

What do you think about this?How does it change how we think about telling stories, writing/composing, and studying literature? Will the novel be rejuvenated by making it more interactive? Can this open a new audience to the classics? Is this the next step after the graphic novel?

2 comments:

I think this is interesting but, like some pieces of modern art (that i saw in NY!!!), it is not a real book, just like a plain canvas is not really art. we had a huge discussion about what makes art while we were in new york and i could have basically the same conversation about these strange online books. i think having an INTERACTIVE book is more like having a very, very informal story being kiddishly written online in an email to your friends. like a two second thing that is not really a story but something you just made up fast. not a lot of work, and something you were not even able to get published? and a new audience to the classics? i mean, if people want to read the classics why cant they read them? this may spread the word but taht does not open up a new audience, just shows people the possibilities of reading a book in a different way. it is the same words that shakespeare wrote a zillion years ago but now we have it online and people have better access. this doesnt mean that 5 year olds will discover some author sooner, just that teenagers who will maybe read this anyways may find it online. and the graphic novel. sigh. i actually read part of that one you linked to and i have to say. its nothing new. a different way of drawing cartoons, nothing more. a different way of painting people, nothing more. interesting? yes. a cool idea? yes. something that will evolve into something amazing. like picasso moving into things like cubism or whatever? no. definately not. this is simply a small change after online books have already been created.

Jennifer, I finally had a chance to go look at the site. Wow. I'm floored. This is so much more than the graphic novel concept, yet it makes perfect sense. I did have trouble following some of them at first. This new medium will take time (at least for some of us) to learn to manipulate.